Delivery drivers will go on strike in several Italian cities on Wednesday, demanding better working conditions in the intense summer heat.

In Milan, city authorities have limited deliveries during the hottest hours of the day until September, and delivery drivers working for Glovo and Deliveroo will stop working at night to demand measures to protect their wages and health.

In Bologna, cyclists will turn off their apps and demonstrate in the city centre, and there will be a similar stoppage for several hours in Florence, where temperatures are expected to reach 40C this week.

Italy is not the only European country where workers have called for better conditions during heat waves.

Research from the European Trade Union Institute suggests that 130 million European workers are exposed to heat stress in the workplace each year.

A union in the Andalusia region of southern Spain complained this week that protections for Glovo delivery drivers under the company’s summer protocol were insufficient when temperatures approached 45C.

In France, teachers unions last month urged their members to exercise their right to strike when necessary over a series of complaints about working conditions in classrooms and during school exams.

Thousands of schools closed or changed their schedules due to the high temperatures.